Small firm entry in manufacturing industries: Lower Saxony, 1979?1989

Abstract

This paper is an empirical study of inter-industry and inter-temporal variations in entry of new firms using longitudinal data covering all manufacturing establishments in Lower Saxony between 1979 and 1989. Patterns of entry are reported for 29 industries based on numbers of new firms, gross rates of entry, and entry intensities (shares of employees) in different types and size classes of new firms. Entry varies considerably between firm types, industries, and over time. Focussing on entry by small single firms an empirical model is applied to search for industry characteristics that are highly correlated with entry. Pooling of cross-section and time-series data allows to control for influences of varying macroeconomic conditions and unobserved industry characteristics. A highly robust estimation method is applied for the first time in a study of entry rates, and it turns out that extreme observations often have large effect on the results. Entry intensity tends to be positively related to industry growth, concentration, and high unemployment, but negatively to high interest rates, profits, and (insignificantly) to intensive use of capital and R&D. I plead for further research vialearning by asking those who are doing.